No, I’m not surprised that the only Republican challenger so far for Blanche Lincoln’s Arkansas Senate seat publicly referred to Chuck Schumer as “that Jew.” Or that he only sorta-kinda took it back:
At the meeting I was attempting to explain that unlike Sen. Schumer, I believe in traditional values, like we used to see on ‘The Andy Griffith Show.’ I made the mistake of referring to Sen. Schumer as ‘that Jew’ and I should not have put it that way as this took away from what I was trying to say.
Got that? He “should not have put it that way,” not because religious bigotry betrays basic American principles, but because it “took away” from his attempt to portray Schumer as a wicked New Yorker.
Hendren told the local newspaper:
I was simply making a point about those two points. I believe in those traditional values like Andy Griffith, Aunt Bea, Barney and Opie. But now all that was lost with this statement. I don’t care if he’s Jewish, Muslim, Catholic or whatever. Although I said there was another Jew that I did agree with, and that was Jesus Christ.
I hope Catholics will be pleased to note that Mr. Hendren classifies them with the despised Jews and Muslims. Public expression of fundamentalist anti-Catholicism is less prevalent now than it used to be now that the Woman in Scarlet has joined the Republican coalition. But let’s not forget that KKK was said to stand for “Kills Koons, Kikes, and Katholics.”
I guess if the Republicans want to express their devotion to the Andy Griffith Show by running Barney Fife for the Senate, that’s their privilege. And if self-described “social conservative” Republican blogger Jason Tolbert wants to praise the candidate for his frank bigotry —
In the day where many politicians try to noance and spin their every word, for better or worse, Hendren makes no attempt to be politically correct or mask what he really thinks on the issues.
— then I suppose we rootless cosmopolitans should thank him for letting us know where we stand.
We still have a party in this country which has a base that defines anti-Semitism as “hating Jews more than you’re supposed to.” As Brad DeLong says, I’d rather vote for the “Democrat Socialists” than the National Socialists.
Fearless predictions:
1. RSCC and conservative PACs will cheerfully pour money into this race if Hendren is the nominee.
2. No national Republican figure will criticize Hendren for his bigotry.
3. Neither will any Red blogger.
4. Nor Abe Foxman or any other right-wing professional Jew.
5. Hendren will never actually apologize to Schumer.
6. There will be zero fuss about this in the national press.
h/t Eric Kleefeld at TPM. Good catch!
Update Hendren keeps digging the hole deeper. Oh, yeah, and he’s the Republican leader in the Arkansas State Senate.